


Facing our Fears

by Kerry_0506



Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Genre: Buried Alive, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-12
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-16 04:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerry_0506/pseuds/Kerry_0506
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benji faces one of his greatest fears and must then face the aftermath. But he is not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Facing our Fears

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

With most agents, if they suddenly disappeared on their downtime, others would assume that they had merely taken a vacation or just didn’t want to be found. But this time had been so much different. Will paced their apartment, waiting for a phone call he feared might never come. How could Benji have just packed up and left, without leaving so much as a note? He refused to believe that was the case though. He had tried calling Benji’s phone numerous times, however each ended in his voicemail. 

Something had to have happened. 

Frantically running a hand through his hair, Will called Ethan, asking if he’d heard from or seen Benji in the past twenty four hours. The older man had only seen him briefly when he had visited to ask something, but nothing had indicated that he was planning on leaving. A friend as close as Ethan would have received some kind of a goodbye; or something would have at least seemed off. But Ethan insisted that Benji seemed perfectly normal. This only concerned Will more. 

Something was definitely not right. 

After numerous phone calls and various different sources of information, they managed to trace Benji’s steps up until the last time anyone saw him. He had been seen getting into a taxi a few blocks from their apartment; he had been heading home, but never reached his destination. By this point, Will was certain he couldn’t remember the last time his heart had raced that much. If they had been on a mission at the time, they would have had some lead on where Benji might have been, but they had not been working. There was no logical reason for someone to have taken him. Everything around Will seemed to feel so surreal, like he was in some kind of dream. Or nightmare… As Ethan made the call to track the taxi Benji had got into, Will couldn’t stand still. His feet kept moving, kept taking him from one end of the apartment to the other, his hands flicking between picking at his nails and pressing over his eyes. He wanted to wake up. Wanted to sit up in his bed and find Benji asleep next to him. Wanted to see Benji opening his eyes and asking him what’s wrong. Wanted to take his partner into his arms and hold him. 

But he knew none of that was about to happen. 

It took Ethan several tries to get Will’s attention and when he did, the team leader explained what he had just found. The taxi firm reported that the particular taxi that Benji had climbed into had gone missing the previous day. Fortunately, each taxi was fitted with a GPS, allowing them to track its location; however the taxi’s current position caused Will’s stomach to twist. Ethan drove a silent Will to the cemetery where they feared what they might find. Sure enough, as they pulled up to the gates, they saw the cab parked outside. It was dark and eerie, very fitting considering, but Will tried to not think about how much it felt like a typical horror film. Running through the cemetery, they searched frantically for Benji or the man who took him. When they finally spotted a lone man walking through the darkness with a shovel, they ran at him. The man bolted and Ethan chased him down, yelling for Will to find Benji. The analyst stared at the shovel the man had dropped, noting the dirt and soil decorating the metal.

It was then that it dawned on him what had happened. 

Grabbing it, he began to sprint across the cemetery, calling out for Benji as he moved, searching for where his partner might be. It took far too long for him to find the pile of recently disturbed soil and when he did, he dropped to his knees. 

“Benji!” he cried, digging frantically with the shovel. “Benji can you hear me!?” He knew that it was pointless. Beneath all of those layers of dirt, there was no way Benji would have been able to hear. That was if he was even still conscious or still alive… He had to get Benji out of there; he knew that this was one of his greatest fears. He continued to dig as fast as he could, blinking back tears as he did, until he felt the shovel hit wood. Moving the final piles of soil, he pried open the lid of the coffin to see a sight that broke his heart. 

In the coffin lay Benji, motionless. Even his chest wasn’t rising or falling. His wrists were tied together and his skin was pale, decorated with bits of dirt that had clung to sweat. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Will reached down and lifted Benji into his arms, holding him tightly as he placed the tech’s head in his lap. 

He was still there when Ethan found him some time later, kneeling in the dirt giving CPR to his unconscious lover. He wasn’t sure how long he had been there for, nor how long it took for the paramedics to arrive. He hardly paid attention when the police took the stranger away; all he was able to concentrate on was the fact that Benji had still not woken up. 

It took a week of beeping monitors and racing hearts before the doctors could rule out any form of brain damage, and a few days after that, Benji was allowed to go home. The first night, Benji didn’t sleep. Having spent nine of the previous twelve days unconscious, he didn’t really feel like it. Will sat up with him the entire night, despite not having slept much for just short of two weeks. 

The second night, Benji asked if the lamp could be left on; the darkness reminding him all too much of the moments he spent in that coffin. 

The third night, Benji fell asleep on the sofa. When Will had gently lifted him into his arms to carry him into bed, the younger man had woken up and screamed, causing them to collapse in a heap. Will pulled Benji into his arms, listening to his heavy breathing as he recalled the moment he was carried from the taxi to the coffin, paralysed by a drug and unable to save himself. 

The fourth and fifth nights saw Will woken by Benji thrashing about in the bed, hands clutching for purchase on the sheets as he gasped for breath. It broke the analyst’s heart to see him like this; he just wished he could do something to help. He settled for gently waking Benji up and wrapping him up in his embrace, Benji’s head on Will’s chest, allowing the sound of his heartbeat to lull him to sleep feeling safe. 

The next day, Will found the bed empty when he woke, the sounds of the shower running, causing him to feel curious. Stepping closer to the bathroom door, just to check if everything was ok, a sound from inside made him worry.

“Benji?” he asked, turning the door handle and opening the door. Inside, he saw Benji standing in the shower, still wearing his underwear, standing under the stream of water scrubbing viciously at his arms. He rushed over and opened the shower screen. “What’s wrong?” He noticed that the skin of his forearm was red raw. 

“It won’t come off…” Benji replied, not looking up. “I can’t get it off.” 

“What won’t come off, Benj?” 

“The dirt…” The despair in Benji’s voice tugged at Will’s heart and he grabbed Benji’s hands to stop him. 

“Benji, there’s nothing there… Please, look at me.” He begged. Two blue eyes met his, sadness and fear evident in them, and he couldn’t stop himself from stepping into the shower with him, pulling Benji into his arms and sinking to the floor with him. They sat under the warm water together, not moving until Benji was ready to. 

It took another week for Will to see Benji smiling again. He carried the two mugs of coffee across to where the Brit sat at the dining table, placing one in front of him.

“Are you ok?” he asked, sitting down next to him. Benji looked up at Will and nodded with a soft smile on his face.

“Thank you.” Benji whispered. “I couldn’t have got through this without you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Benj.” Will lifted a hand to gently brush against Benji’s cheek. “You’ve always got me.” 

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


End file.
